Preventable Deaths Reach Highest Number in Recorded History
Last week, Illinois’ distinguished National Safety Council released shocking news regarding accidental deaths in the United States. Taking the latest fatality data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the NSC discovered that more people are dying from preventable injuries (accidents) than at any other time in our nation’s history.
Preventable deaths have now reached their highest number in recorded U.S. history.…
An American is killed accidentally every three minutes, by a drug overdose, a motor vehicle crash, a fall, a drowning, a choking incident, or another preventable occurrence.
NSC Points to Country’s “Collective Complacency”
The safety advocacy group points out that this situation has its remedies. The problem, as defined by the NSC, is that preventing accidents and victims dying from their accident injuries is simply not a priority in our culture.
From the NSC (emphasis added):
For years, the United States has accepted unintentional injuries as an unavoidable reality. These data show us that our collective complacency costs us 466 lives every day. The truth is, there is no such thing as an accident.
We know what to do to save lives, but as a nation, we have not consistently prioritized safety at work, at home and on the road.
Preventable Injury Related Deaths Detailed in NSC Injury Facts Report
The NSC has been collecting injury and fatality data for analysis and publishing its findings since the 1920s, as its annual “Injury Facts ® report.
The NSC Injury Facts report delves into the causes of fatal accidents, as well as detailing the accident victims by characteristics that include age, sex, and race.
The latest Injury Facts confirms only heart disease and cancer cause more deaths in this country than accidents and their preventable injuries.
The NSC Definition of Accident
What does the NSC consider to be an “accident” in its findings? The Injury Facts Glossary provides the following definition:
The occurrence in a sequence of events that produces unintended injury, death, or property damage. Accident refers to the event, not to the result of the event (see preventable injury). The term “accident” has largely been replaced in the public health community with the term “incident.” (see preventable deaths and injuries).
The NSC warns that the attitude towards these accidents and the deaths they are causing must change:
For too long, preventable deaths and injuries have been called “accidents,” implying unavoidable acts of God or fate that we are powerless to stop. This is simply not true. NSC believes that together we can – and will – eliminate preventable deaths in our lifetime.
Accident Death Details From NSC Injury Facts Report
From the latest NSC research findings, we know the following about fatal accidents and deadly injuries and their causes:
- The death rate in 2016 increased 9.4%% from 2015;
- The death rate in 2016 increased 47% from 1992;
- Motor-vehicle deaths, including car crashes, rose 6.8% in 2016;
- 2017 had the highest death rate since 1973; and
- Since 1992, deaths have skyrocketed 96%.
Most Common Accidents Causing Deaths in the United States
The NSC Injury Facts analysis finds that there has been a “dramatic climb” in poisoning deaths driven by the opioid epidemic. Other significant risks of deadly accidents were found in (1) falls involving older adults and the elderly and (2) motor vehicle collisions.
1. Death from Drug Overdose (Opioid or Pain Medication)
The NSC analysis find poisoning deaths account for most of the deaths caused by preventable accidents in this country , and that most of these involve opioid drugs.
Preventable opioid overdose deaths increased 29% in 2016 and 544% since 1999…. Currently 73% of preventable opioid deaths occur among those ages 25 to 54, and the number of deaths among individuals 55 and older is starting to grow.
For more on how doctors and health care providers can be held liable for these preventable accident deaths, read:
- Doctors Face Pain Medication Lawsuits and Prescription Opioid Overdose Claims
- Suing Doctors for Pain Medication Overdoses: 2017 Opioid Crisis in Indiana and Illinois
- Doctors Are Writing Prescriptions for Pain Killers That Are Resulting In Overdoses: CDC Reports Physicians Are Supplying The Overdose Opioids.
2. Death from Falls
According to data collected by the CDC, and referenced by the NSC, every 20 minutes an older adult dies from a fall in this country. (Older adult is defined as someone 65 years or older).
Seniors and their loved ones should be aware of the high risk of a slip and fall or trip and fall incident turning into a deadly accident.
For more, read:
- Nursing Home Falls: Claims for Serious or Fatal Fall Injuries to Nursing Home Residents
- Suing Nursing Homes: Tragic Rise in Nursing Home Abuse and Neglect.
3. Deaths from Motor Vehicle Accidents
The NSC reports that over 40,000 people died from injuries sustained in motor vehicle accidents in 2017. Their research attributes three main reasons for these fatal auto accidents: drunk driving; distracted driving; and speeding.
The NSC also points to the responsibly of employers to keep their workers alert on the road and the company’s duty to deal with preventable motor vehicle accident deaths.
Employers need to manage the safety of employees on the road, just as they manage other risks in the workplace.
To learn more about how a driver’s employer can be held liable for a fatal motor vehicle accident in Indiana or Illinois, read:
- Employer Liability for Distracted Driving Accidents in Indiana or Illinois
- More Bans on Texting While Driving – Making Employers Toe the Line.
Claims Based Upon Personal Injury Law Can Help Stop The Fatal Accident Epidemic
The recent warning out of Itasca, Illinois, from the National Safety Council should help to curb this rising epidemic of Americans dying in preventable accidents. For many accident victims, and their loved ones, the current attitude which ignores or minimizes the very real danger of a death caused by something that can be prevented exists (e.g., death from a car crash, a medical error, a fall). And it’s not likely to change until definitive action is taken.
One type of action that may result in helping curb this crisis is the filing of personal injury, medical malpractice, or wrongful death claims based upon the state laws of Indiana and Illinois. Lawsuits seeking damages from those responsible for ignoring risks that cause someone’s death in an accident can work proactively in decreasing these dangers.
We predict that more and more civil lawsuits will be filed both in Indiana and Illinois, as well as across the country, against those responsible for preventable accidents.
For instance, cases can be filed based upon medical malpractice, as well as nursing home abuse or neglect, and employer liability. For details, read:
- Medical Malpractice in Illinois 2016: When Health Care Mistakes Hurt or Kill the Patient
- Nursing Home Abuse and Neglect in Illinois and Indiana: Finding Justice
- Job Site Injury in Illinois or Indiana: When Accidents at Work Are Not Worker’s Compensation Claims.
Let’s be careful out there!
